Adobe Illustrator review

Illustrator is the reference vector tool, and the format most brand guidelines, printers and agencies still expect. Adobe describes it as built for logos, icons, graphics and illustrations, made from points, lines and curves so they scale from a business card to a billboard without losing sharpness. Shape Builder lets people with no drawing skills combine shapes into marks, and Repeat for Patterns and Global Edits speed up repetitive work. The subscription includes Illustrator on the iPad for drawing with an Apple Pencil, plus fonts, templates and Adobe Express Premium. It is sold as a single app or inside the Creative Cloud Pro plan. Compared with Affinity, the advantage is native file compatibility and a huge base of tutorials and plugins; the cost is a subscription and a steeper learning curve than Canva or Figma. Adobe's pricing page showed us local currency only, so the USD price is pending.

Who it is for

Brand and print designers who need industry-standard vector files.

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Vector drawing with points, lines and curves that scale without blur
• Shape Builder for combining shapes into new forms
• Repeat for Patterns and Global Edits to save time
• Illustrator on the iPad included in the subscription
• Templates, Adobe Fonts and Adobe Express Premium included

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: The file format most agencies, printers and brand teams expect
• Strength: Precise control over paths, type and color
• Strength: iPad version included for drawing with Apple Pencil
• Weakness: Subscription only
• Weakness: Steeper learning curve than Canva or Figma
• Weakness: Photo editing and multi-page layout need other Adobe apps

Key facts

• Platforms: Desktop and iPad
• Plans: Single app or Creative Cloud Pro
• Includes: Adobe Express Premium, fonts and templates
• Graphics type: Vector

Where it ranks

Adobe Illustrator is No. 5 in our Best Graphic Design Software verdict.